NRDC: There's No Way In Hell The Keystone Pipeline Will Create 20,000 Jobs

The Natural Resources Defense Council is against the proposed
$1.7 billion
Keystone pipeline that will transport oil from Canada's tar
sands to Texas.

Those who support the pipeline argue that it will help America
become less dependent on Middle East oil and create American
jobs.

Those against the pipeline, like NRDC, argue that it will destroy
the environment and contribute to global warming. (One NASA scientist, James Hansen, has said that, if
we start burning the tar sands,
it will be "game over" for the planet.)

President Obama recently postponed a decision to approve or
reject the pipeline. This caused Republicans and the oil industry
to howl that the President's delay has cost the country 20,000
jobs.

NRDC disputes this conclusion. We've printed their note below.

When one considers more than environmental concerns, the right
answer on the Keystone project is not obvious. So, we'd be glad
to hear from the oil industry and other proponents of the
pipeline as well.

Here's NRDC:

In the wake of President Obama's decision to re-examine the
Keystone XL pipeline permitting process, some critics of the
delay, most notably the oil industry, have grossly inflated the
supposed jobs that would be created by the project.

Let's look at the record. Initially, TransCanada, the would-be
pipeline builder, as well as other boosters, claimed the project
would create a quarter-million jobs. Exposed as pure propaganda,
they have reduced that number to 20,000. Even that's fiction.